"Atheism is not merely the denial of a dogma. It is the reversal of a subconscious assumption in the soul..." - Chesterton
"We do not really face two rival versions of Christianity. We face Christianity on the one hand and, on the other hand, some other religion that selectively uses Christian words, but is not Christianity." - J. Gresham Machen

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What I believe:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.
I believe he was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
I believe he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
I believe he descended to the grave and on the third day he rose again.
I believe he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
I believe he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.
I believe we are saved by grace alone through faith alone. I believe the Bible is the word of God, without error or contradiction.
I believe God is sovereign over all the universe; omnipotent and omniscient in all things. I believe that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. I believe that pretty much covers it.

Sunday, 9 October 2011

Pray Without Ceasing

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you.” (Colossians 1: 3-6a)

It is interesting to note that Paul is praying here for those he hasn't yet met. He has only heard of their faith. He hasn’t met them yet. In Alpha we pray. We pray for people we haven’t met yet, but we know that God knows them, and has plans for them, and whoever and wherever they are, they will be joining us as God’s children, our brothers and sisters, in God’s kingdom. Prayer is a big part of each Alpha course. And it is a priority at Alpha Canada. We pray for the people presenting all our courses and we pray for all those who are taking them.

Paul says in Phil 4:6,

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

Notice that thanksgiving comes even before our petitions are presented, let alone answered. We are to pray with confidence that God will answer, according to His will. At the beginning, and all through each Alpha course, we have prayed with thanksgiving, thankful for what God intends to do in this course, and confident that He is going to accomplish great things. And he always does. I can say with confidence that each and every course in which I have been involved, almost without exception, lives have been changed, hearts have been touched, and people have surrendered their lives to Christ.